U.S.A. Literary Elements

Trilogy

The action in the trilogy takes place over the course of 3 years, starting from 1900 to 1930 in various locations all over America.

The stories are told from the perspective of a third person subjective point of view.

The tone of the story Charley Anderson is a depressing and tragic one.

The protagonist in Margo Dowling’s story is Margo while the antagonist is her step father Frank who sexually abuses her.

The major conflict in the story of Eveline Hutchins is between the desire to be happy and the desire to own as much money and as many physical possessions as possible.

The story of Margo Dowling reaches its climax when Margo achieves the fame and wealth she desired all her life.

When Mary French’s parents are described, the narrator portrays them as unhappy people who never found out what they truly wanted in life. The narrator then goes to compare Mary to her parents and to point out just how similar Mary was to them. This comparison is used here as a foreshadowing element, the narrator using this scene to imply that Mary will not be able to find happiness just like her parents never found it either.

In the beginning of the story about Eveline Hutchins, she claims she will give up her old way of life and will find true happiness and the true meaning of life. This is however an understatement as Eveline does almost nothing to change her life for the better and instead continues doing the same things over and over again.

Most of the characters in the stories are unmarried and express their desire to remain unmarried no matter the circumstances. Many however get married soon after their partner or even themselves get pregnant unexpectedly. What is alluded through this is that a valid reason to get married is only the unplanned pregnancy of one of the partners and nothing more since none of the characters marry just because they want to or because they love the other person.

The stories all take place over the span of about 30 years before the beginning of the Second World War. The trilogy can be seen as a portrait of the American society before the Second World War. The American society is imagined as being chaotic, not knowing what it wants and chasing happiness in all the places it cannot be found. The American society is also shown here as being extremely materialistic, their only focus being gaining as much money and as many possessions as possible.

We find a paradoxical idea in the story of Ben Compton in which the major character, after using all his energy and resources to support the Communist Party, is told to leave the party and to never return to them.

N/A

In the story of John Ward Moorehouse, the names used by the main character are used as a general term to make reference to the way in which our society appreciates appearances above everything else and how truth does not really matter as long as a person has the ability to make others like him and believe even the most blatant lies.

We find a personification in Fenian’s story in the sentence “the buildings spoke to him”.